MMO Communities (was RE: [MUD-Dev] MMORPG Cancellations:Theskyisfalling?)

[Tom "cro" Gordon]

Paul Schwanz wrote:

> In other words, when I hear players complain about forced
> grouping, I don't believe their real complaint is that there
> should be no benefit for cooperative team play.  Rather, I believe
> they are complaining about the lack of alternatives that will
> require the lower degree of social effort with which they are
> comfortable while still letting them connect to a community.  If
> maintaining the sort of social bonds required to reap the benefits
> for cooperative team play seems like a chore to them, they will
> solo, they will complain, and eventually they will leave.

Here's a third alternative, and the one that applies mostly to me:

  I don't have the time to get involved in forced grouping.

Given my lifestyle, despite my deep love for the vagaries of
existence within an MMO world, my play habits are closer to those of
a traditional console player - and moving towards the typical
handheld or mobile player. I get 10 or 15 minutes at a time, maybe
an hour, and often have to drop out of the game at very short
notice.

Trying to participate in a group in these conditions is stupidly
difficult, not only from a play perspective, but from a social one
as well. No-one likes the guy who joins the party late, reaps the
benefits from everyone else's hard work, then drops as soon as his
missions are done - and it doesn;t matter if the absolutel reality
is that the guy does have to drop out of the game, unless he puts in
as much time and effort as everyone else, he will eventually be
ostracised from most groups.

I distinctly remember trying to get groups together to go hunting in
SWG. Often it would take two or more hours to get the group
organised enough to head off and attempt the higher level static
dungeons, leaving me with two hours of gameplay where I did pretty
much nothing - when I only had two hours of free time.

Forced grouping also stops players from experimenting with classes
and skills, or proving themselves as individuals, especially where
the grouping or social interction of a class or skill requires
grouping.

Ryzom is a good example (well, at least at this early stage) where
one skill (magic) cannot be progressed until you have used enough
magic on one team member to level up to the point where you can buy
offensive magic. In other words, you cannot use *any* magic until
you join a group, and if you are antisocial, or can't find a group,
or can;t devote the time to a group at the very beginning of the
game, then you can't use magic.

When we talk about designing games to appeal to the mobile
generation, especially when we talk about designing online games
that can be played on a mobile phone handset or a portable device,
the one major consideration is time. Time players are able to devote
to the game.  And the same thing should be applied to MMO games. I
really don't care if it takes me 4 years to get to level 200 (It
took me 2 years to get to Level 50 in AO, only playing 1 MMO, 1
character, and the same char since launch) because I didn't have the
time to play for long stretches. I also never joined groups for this
very same reason - I couldn't afford the real-world time to devote
to the bits outside the monster killing.

Regards,
Tom "cro" Gordon
CEO, AlienPants Ltd
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